Strike
by Challiex98
Summary: Rosa wasn't sure how long she had been dreaming of the fire, the flames that licked up every ounce of her soul. As if her life couldn't get more confusing, she wakes up in a shuddering box with no recollection of her memories - nothing, except the burning inside of her. She was a match. Strike it, and watch the world burn.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: Thanks to a Guest reviewer, I have decided to go back and make minor changes to the story. I did rush Newt and Rosa's relationship, and I definitely did not want that. So I'm going to give you guys a good few filler chapters, maybe up until 4 or 5, before I do the time skip. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, but I do own Rosa and any story lines that differ from James Dashner's original text.**

_.01._

_There was screaming; wails; the heart wrenching tears of those from a small child. _

_They were scattered around a patch of grass, a swarm of sick tugged on the fences surrounding the protected compound. Their faces were red, and blotchy with green boils that looked almost deadly - the sick and twisted thing was; they were. Each one was slowly dying, in their health, their minds, what they used to be. _

_A shred of hope appeared in the face of a girl. She was beautiful, with an ugly life - a life, she did not choose, nor want. Her heart went out to them, wanting so desperately to help, offer some sort of protection and scoop the most vulnerable up to take them somewhere safe. It was always the same child that appeared, the blue eyes with striking black hair, staring up at her with pleading eyes that she was forced to turn lifeless. The guilt was still on her shoulders._

_The barrel of a gun was smoking, ripples of death rising up to meet her finger that had pulled away from the trigger. Her eyes, glancing down at where the child had fallen against her feet, turned to stone. _

_Hard; cold; unwelcoming._

_No more. She stepped over it, her black boots crunching on the dead grass that seemed to match the atmosphere around it._

_Death; fear; destruction; and more death._

_Mud ran up the sides of her boots, just like how the grief was slowly taking over her heart. She wouldn't allow it, she couldn't. _

_It wasn't an option._

_"Well done, my darling." The man said with a content smile, it was sick and twisted with a thousand lies stitched across it._

_She threw the gun at his feet, her eyes flashing a molten red for the briefest of seconds before she turned on her heel and stalked off toward the giant building that lay just a few feet away. A stone throw away._

_The man was not phased. He simply clicked his fingers for another to retrieve the gun and followed behind her, his eyes following every movement that she made._

_"Such a beauty." He murmured, eyes glistening with desire at the female in front, her curls bouncing with every collision her foot made with the ground. _

_"Strike, the match, let it burn."_

_ك_

A sea of nothingness surrounded her, disguised as a veil of black that blocked her from seeing anything she shouldn't. In that case; _everything. _Plunged deep into the endless abyss, like a black hole had sucked her up on a first-class, one-way, plane. At least, she felt like she was flying.

Life felt like a giant game of chess, with a goal that came only with protecting their most prized piece - the King. She had a distorted image of who he was, the person she had to protect; the person _they all _had to protect. He was there, deep in her memory, blocked by a barrier of black and white.

The game revolves around the King; a piece that they would all die for. He was limited in his movements, restricted by more than the swarming army that surrounded him. He wanted to be a leader and storm ahead, leading his loyal servants behind him. She would follow him anywhere. The Queen would follow him everywhere.

The Bishop; the man who would charge on ahead with the rest following behind. He had never intended for it to happen.

The Knight; he carefully plans all of his attacks before heading out to battle. He would be the one to cause the most damage.

The Rook; confined by his own rules and fear, he would never make it that far in the game.

The Pawn; the one to be discarded, unimportant and sacrificial. The loss of a pawn would not be overlooked.

She felt like a meaningless pawn in a world that was burning. Flames licking up the sides of buildings that were destroyed - in years time they would burn out and become ruins that the future generation would sneak around in, or rebuild to be their family home. The world; _her _world, was burning, and she could feel the heat inside of her.

She woke with a start, a pain-filled gasp shooting from her mouth as she lunged forward, in harmony with the room she was in. She was surrounded by a cold steel, the temperature turning her blood into red-stained icicles. Her eyes darted around the room, each jolt sending them to another position, but it was the same thing she looked at each time. Darkness - the kind that inhabited your soul and tainted your mind into something it's not - _you're _not.

Echoing constantly throughout the room, like a child purposely scraping their fork down a polished clay plate - or long pointed fingernails dragging themselves down a black board. The sound made the girl's toes curl in, her body shudder and ears protest. It was a horrible, metal against metal screech, a grinding that screeched metallic-ally. There was a deep clunking sound that repeated every two seconds, giving the room a small jolt along with it.

_"Where am I?" _The girl wondered, her lip pulled between her perfect white teeth as her brain tried to make some sort of sense to the situation. _"What is that sound? Pulleys? Ropes. Like a lift..."_

The lift - if that's what it even was - was dusty, and freezing. In the darkness, she could only make out a line of tiny holes around the top of the room, allowing little to no light in. Having no idea where she was going and against the physics of gravity, she pulled herself up, using the wall to stabilise herself as she attempted to get a closer look at the holes. With a frown, her fingertips ran across them, tickling the nerves as each bump slid across it.

The floor beneath the girl's black boots gave a jolt, knocking her backwards onto the floor as if she had been tipped sideways. A shoot of pain ran up her spinal cord, resulting in a wince and a small whine of pain. As if to add to her growing skin of bruises, the lift jolted sideways, flattening the girl on the ground harshly. Her head collided with the steel; hard, and white stars clouded her vision. Pain erupted in many different areas, her tailbone, head, arms, legs and ribs.

With a frown, the girl pressed on her stomach and recoiled instantly, the agony spurring tears in her eyes. She felt as if she had been kicked, hard, in the stomach with a football of stone. Her arms were heavy and her legs were stiff, as if she had been running, urging herself onward when her body easily protested. That gave the girl the idea that she did not want to be where she was.

The smell of burning metal wafted through her nose, causing the girl to shake her head in disgust and blanch backward. Her hand shot to her nose; she knew what that smell was. It was the grinding metal causing a friction that was producing an incredible heat. The girl used her hands and feet to shuffle into a corner, hoping that if she stayed there long enough, it would all end.

She was wrong, having sat there for ten minutes with only the ringing and clanging of the lift keeping her company. Those sounds and her ears, _were not_, friend, but she learned to get used to them in her short time experiencing them. The panic, however, was not something she got used to. The quaking of her body, wrapped tightly together under her head and arms, did not cease from the moment she had awoken.

Her head was pounding, as if someone were throwing a party for teenagers in her brain; with underage drinking, drugs, super fattening pizza and the deafeningly loud music. The stuff that sounded more like a robot cat singing than actually decent tunes. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, music was a no-go for her brain. She couldn't remember how one started, what the notes sounded like, or what anything sounded like! Everything had been replaced with fear and the smell of steel melting to the point where she would be trapped in the little lift that reminded her of a very old underground mineshaft.

_"Rrrrr... ahh."_

The girl frowned at the sounds echoing around her skull, bouncing around so loudly that the threat of her brain exploding was not in the distant future.

_"R-ohhh-ssss."_

"Rose." The girl repeated, placing each of the sounds together mentally in her slightly intimidating, but gentle and sweet Scottish accent. "Rosa." With a sigh of relief and a gleeful smile stretched across her face, the girl had a new found sense of determination.

She was going to find out why she was in the box and who the hell put her there!

Then the lift stopped suddenly and her body flew forward, shooting across the cold floor like a penguin on ice - it was that cold - knocking backwards into the wall. Honestly, if she managed to get out with one limb in tact, she would be slightly happy. After all, she was still trapped in a box with no clear way out of any signal of where she could be.

_"Thirty minutes." _Rosa concluded, happy that her brain wasn't completely wiped to the point where she was a vegetable, having to start over. She had been slowly counting the minutes since she woke up, wondering how much longer she would be in the dark box.

With a final loud squeaking sound that reminded Rosa very much of the grinding of metal she had to endure for the whole ride, a slither of white appeared in the black ceiling. With a sudden burst of electricity, the light invaded the lift and two doors were yanked open above her. Rosa used her right hand to block the invasion against her eyes, finding herself wishing that they would close and she could be alone in the darkness again. However, it did not last for long.

_"This is it." _She thought, followed by a shaky sigh. _"This is where I get off."_

A sharp gasp rung out, alerting Rosa that whatever it was, was human. Her hand slowly dropped to her side, eyes narrowed whilst they adjusted to the bright light. Just above her, crouched down, peering into the lift was a boy. He was the only thing she could see, blocking the majority of the sun out of her eyes. He had shaggy blonde hair that lightly touched the middle of his ear and dark brown eyes that stared down at her with confusion.

"What's the shank look like?"

"How old is he?"

"Bet he looks like a klunk."

"He'll probably be a slopper!"

Shank, klunk, slopper? Rosa furrowed her eyes, confused as to what the voices were saying. The words were foreign to her ears, making her brain all the more tangled up in questions that couldn't be answered. The boy realized this and threw some words over his shoulder, ones that matched the others.

"Slim it!" He barked, and after a small wave of murmurs, they shut up. "Someone get the rope!"

The boy turned his attention back to the girl and jumped down into the lift, causing it to rattle and shake. Rosa let out a panicked breath, looking quickly around her as if expecting them to plummet to their drawn out deaths. When the lift stayed steady, she peered back up at the boy before her, anger rising up through her chest.

Rosa clambered to her feet quickly, her eyes narrowing dangerously at the boy in front of her. "Why did you bring me here? What do you want from me?"

The boy frowned at her words, almost as if he couldn't remember what a girl sounded like. He couldn't. "Don't worry, love." He smirked, his hand latching onto the rope that fell into the hole. "We're not the bad guys here."

Rosa eyed the rope warily, weighing the pros and cons to that moment before placing her small foot in it. With a gasp, Rosa found herself whisked through the air suddenly, her heart plummeting into her stomach at the rough action. Her hands gripped onto the surface above her, using what little upper body strength she had to pull herself up right - she didn't need anyone's help!

Rosa looked around her, and all around her; were boys.

That was how Rosa entered the Glade, through the exact same lift that had transported each and every one of the crowd of boys that surrounded her. A pool of different race, shapes and sizes - suggesting they could have come from all over the world.

The one thing they shared in common - except the fact that they were all male - was the dirty and smudged clothes that they wore. Some were too tight, others too loose. The cleanest of them all was Newt, and some other boy. That one was tall and dark-skinned. He had a strict expression stitched onto his face.

"It's a girl?"

"That's not a girl, idiot. We don't get girls."

"A feminine boy then."

"You're a feminine boy, shuck-face."

"SLIM IT!" The dark-skinned boy roared, causing each and every one of the approaching boys to slink back to their positions, looking rather sheepish. "None of you will talk to her, unless she speaks to you first. Only the keepers have permission to approach her." He shot a threatening look that all of them seemed to understand, all except Rosa. "Now get back to work!"

Rosa had positioned herself behind the boy who had jumped into the lift with her. She was ready to launch herself back into the lift and wait there until she was taken down if she was touched by any of the desperate boys who had been staring at her rather hungrily.

Her eyes widened at the sight before her, finally taking it all in as the cloud of males dissipated, her attention caught on the area spread around her. She was stood in the middle of a square shaped sort of field.

To the upper left of her was a rather unattractive looking giant wooden building, at least five stories tall, with some holes fenced of by wooden sticks just poking out the side of it. A few cream hammocks were visible on the other side of it. She guessed that was where the majority of the boys slept since there was not nearly enough room on the inside of the building.

To the upper right was a garden of sort, with sticks reaching up out of the ground to support the plants that stretched up towards the sun. Rosa could see at least six boys milling around the patch, pulling up weeds and tending to the crops. That was where the minority of their food came from, they mostly ate meat that would bulk them up and provide the strength that they needed to survive each day in the blistering heat.

Spinning on her heel, Rosa turned to the other direction. Behind the wooden building, now to her right, was a forest, she would assume, judging by the trees that seemed to go on for miles. She would remember liking trees, climb them was rather fun.

On the opposite side, were some animal pens, holding cows, pigs, sheep and some chicken that were laying eggs like there was no tomorrow. A building sat off to the side of it, with an entrance from the pens - Rosa knew that she didn't want to go in there when a man came out the door, a large bloodied machete in his hands. Rosa turned away just in time as one of the pigs were hauled off toward the building. She could almost hear the pig squealing.

In between those two, was another room, smaller than the five-story building, but larger than the one by the pens. It was square, had a door that seemed to lock, with no one around it. Rosa guessed that it was off-bounds and decided to wait until night to investigate - if she ever plucked up the courage to. She probably wouldn't, feeling outnumbered by about fifty:one.

That was when she noticed the walls. The room was pressed right up against the - what she guessed was the south - wall, as if it was actually joined to it. The walls were giant, towering over the people inside, gaining at least 50 feet on them.

They were encased. Like a snow globe.

"Alright, greenie." The dark-skinned boy spoke up, having gotten impatient with her sudden interest in the glade. "Enough of that, you'll fry your brain."

Rosa turned her head over her shoulder to face him, her body soon following through. "What is this place? Why am I here?"

"No questions." The boy said, sternly, with a facial expression that was serious. "Nick'll give you the tour tomorrow, for now, Newt's gonna take you to Frypan."

"What's Frypan?" Rosa couldn't help the question that slipped out, not even noticing the muscles that tensed in the boy's neck.

"My name's Alby." He ignored her question, knowing that if he answered one, the rest would come tumbling out. "What's yours?"

Rosa bit her lip, deciding whether or not to say her name; one of the only things she actually knew about herself. "Rosa." She told him, with a sigh. "My name is Rosa."

"Nice to meet you, Rosa." Alby told her, suggesting that he actually did have manners. "Welcome to the Glade." And then he walked off, toward an Asian boy who was waiting on him.

"The Glade?" Rosa murmured to herself, piecing it all together. She had picked up little snippets. The Glade was where they lived, the whole area closed off by the walls. Everyone had a job there; it made sense, like how the world worked. She guessed that a Slopper was a type of job. It didn't sound very pleasant, maybe it had something to do with those pigs? They're rather sloppy.

"Let's get you to Frypan." Newt said, breaking her trail of thought. He placed his hand on her shoulder, urging Rosa onward toward the giant wooden building.

"Am I the only girl?" Rosa asked, hoping that Newt would answer her one question. She didn't really look at him, her eyes trained on their surroundings as she was led.

Newt let out a sigh as they kept walking, him practically guiding her with the hand on her shoulder. It was a question that didn't really have anything to do with the Glade, just the people in it... So he answered. "Yeah, you are."

"Why?" Rosa continued, wanting to pry out as much as she could from the blonde.

"That's the thing." Newt paused, with his hand on the door to the building. The blonde visibly gulped and Rosa knew that this was not a good sign. "We have no idea."

Rosa swallowed thickly, her questions dissolving into anxiety as they entered into an empty room full of tables and benches. It reminded her of a rather long picnic table. Newt led her over to a gap in the wall, like a glass-less window. "Hey Frypan, got any breakfast left?"

Frypan's head appeared on the other side, answering Rosa's previous question. Frypan was a person, their chef, she assumed. "Already got something for the greenie." A plate was placed on the top of the ledge, it was like a counter-top. Frypan's eyes fell on Rosa, and she bit her lip, nervously, awaiting his reaction. "Nice to meet you, the name's Frypan."

Rosa was stunned, everyone had been so shocked to see her and here was a boy who just greeted her like she imagined a normal person to. Her lips pulled up into a smile and she let out a little laugh, "It's nice to meet you too, Frypan. My name's Rosa."

"Eat up, Rosa." Frypan pushed the plate of bacon toward her. "You must be starving."

"Thank you." Rosa took the plate and offered one last smile before looking to Newt for her next move.

Newt led Rosa over to a table, Frypan had disappeared to make lunch at this point. He sat down on the opposite side of Rosa, sitting directly across from her. "It's weird to finally meet a girl." He said, in an accent much like hers, she noticed.

"You're English." She blurted out, noticing the confused look on his face. "You're the only person who sounds slightly normal to me. The rest sound bizarre."

Newt's eyes lit up, "You know where we're from?"

"I'm from Scotland." Rosa explained happily, glad to have something she could talk about. "You're from England."

"I wonder where we are now." Newt muttered, putting a sudden stop to the happy conversation. "Probably hell."

Rosa chose to stay silent, quietly munching on her bacon while Newt was sucked up into his own thoughts. To be honest, she was thinking too. Questions rattled through her brain so quickly that she couldn't keep track of them.

She wanted to know _everything _about the Glade, and everyone in it.

To say that Rosa was surprised when the ground started shaking was an understatement; stating that she screamed, was an understatement; mentioning that she practically attacked Newt with her panicked flailing, was a fact. She and Newt had been making idle chit chat, whilst he showed her his favourite place. It was in the forest she had saw before, sitting among the branches of the biggest of all the trees.

They had climbed up it, so when the walls opened almost an hour after she arrived, Newt had to grab Rosa before she tumbled out of the tree.

"What the hell is that?" Rosa cried over the sound of the quaking, her eyes wide and filled with fear.

"The walls are opening!" Newt yelled back, refusing to let her go until the shaking stopped. "Come on." He said, jumping from the tree with ease, holding his hands out to catch her.

"Uh no." Rosa shook her head, not realising how high up she had been. "That's not happening. Nope, not even slightly."

"Rosa, just jump." Newt told her, tiredly.

"Nope." Rosa shook her head stubbornly, hugging onto the tree.

"I'll catch you?"

"Wipe that smirk off your face. I said no."

"Then how do you suppose you'll get down?"

"Fly."

"Sorry, angel, didn't realise you had wings."

"Don't call me 'angel'."

"Sorry sweetheart."

"Newt!"

"Rosa!" Newt countered, his hands were on his hips like a mother scolding her child. "If you don't jump in the next three seconds, I'll walk away and leave you here."

Rosa's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You wouldn't dare."

"Three."

"Newt, if you do, I swear -"

"Two."

"Blondie, I'll slap you!"

"Oh ouch, that hurts." Newt feigned fake, his hand shooting to his heart. "Annndd, one." His signature smirk pulled across his face. "Bye bye!" He folded his hand in on itself two times before turning to walk off, only managing a step before Rosa called on him.

"Newt!" Rosa squealed with terror, not realising that she was leaning out of the tree, "Come back! Don't leave me -" She was cut off by her own scream as the world spun around her, the ground quickly rising up to meet her face..

Arms came around her shoulders and under her legs quickly, as if they had been there the whole time. Rosa's eyes were tightly shut, as if bracing herself from the darkness that would follow.

"Told you I'd catch you." A familiar voice forced Rosa to open her eyes in a flash, her face contorting into frustration when she saw his own smug facial features.

Newt seemed all too happy with himself, having caught her from the tall tree, when really he didn't think he would be able to. He let her legs fall to the ground, realising that he had still been holding her, and took a step back, clearing his throat awkwardly. Newt didn't want to feel like he was invading her personal space.

"Newt?" Rosa asked, her frustration turning to worry at his sudden change in mood. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Newt replied, with a simple shake of his head, as if to remove the thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine, s'nothing."

"Okay..."

Newt felt uncomfortable, having the awkward silence rise above them, enveloping them both within it's grasp. "Come on, let's go see what's in the boxes." Newt offered, tearing through the veil of silence. "See if anything came for you."

Rosa nodded and walked along beside Newt in silence as they made their way to the lift. Her heart was beating furiously and Newt kept fiddling with his fingers to distract himself from the girl next to him. They were both painfully aware of the other.

"It sucks here."

"That it does." Newt let out sigh, "We are all in the gutter -"

"But some of us are looking at the stars." Rosa finished, without thinking.

In a moment, it all clicked into place and a wave of nausea flooded over her, coating her mind and body into a whirlwind of dizziness.

And once again, she was surrounded by darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Apologies for any word you find odd, I am Scottish and I use the British English spellings, obviously. That is why I did make Rosa, Scottish. It's just easier for me with spellings incase I put something that Americans would not say.<strong>

**Okay, I'm just going to give people a heads up. Rosa's story is more a personal thing than her just being put into the maze. Quite a lot of it will be explained when Thomas turns up. **

**Just FYI, the story will have a time skip of a few months after a few chapters - I am combining them to make everything longer though. I know I'm moving quite fast but after this it will resume going slowly. I want to expand on Rosa and Newt's relationship. I don't want to jump straight into it.**

**With that all cleared up, I'm super excited to start writing Rosa's story, I'm quite happy with it too. Until next time!**

**ALSO, I KNOW I DON'T WRITE 'ya' AND STUFF, BUT IT LITERALLY DRIVES ME INSANE IF I EVEN READ IT, SO I DECIDED AGAINST IT. SORRY FRIENDS!**


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: Okay, I'm just going to put it out there. There is a reason as to why Rosa is experiencing these dream/voice/nightmare type things. And later on, I have a little note written that she decides not to tell anyone. They wanted to throw her in the Slammer for being a girl, what would they do if she heard voices? So, no, she won't tell anyone for a little while.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Maze Runner, what of it?**

_.02._

_"Darling, wake up."_

_"You don't want to keep me waiting do you?"_

_"Are you any use at all?"_

_"Stupid girl!"_

_"Strike, the match, let it burn."_

ك

Rosa shot forward with a gasp, bolting upright into a sitting position. Her head was spinning, like a spinning top, round and round, as she attempted to grasp some sense. When she pinpointed something, it shot out from underneath the mental hold as if a rug was yanked from her feet. She began clutching her hair tightly, fingertips locking around the roots as if she were around to pull them out. She was crying at this point, bittersweet tears trailed down her pink cheeks as she tried to control her breathing.

There was a creak, and at that moment, Rosa was aware of her surroundings. She was in a room with many beds scattered around it, with a door leading off to what looked to be a storage cupboard. The beds had been made with wood and mattresses that she guessed had been sent up to them. There was a window or sorts, a square gap in the wall with two planks across it in an 'X' shaped fashion.

"She's awake!" Someone cheered, snapping Rosa's attention to the second door, one that led out to a hallway. He placed a tray down on the bedside table where a bowl of soup and a glass of water sat on it. "Hey there, Rosa, how you feeling?"

Rosa frowned at the man, not recognising him in the slightest. She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out, her throat was raw and dry. The man noticed this and handed her the glass of water, with a small smile. Rosa nodded to him and started chugging the water, thankful for the cool substance that trickled down her throat and moistened it. Quickly, after four sips, the man tugged it from her hands, with a simple shake of his finger.

"Now, now." The man shook his head, as he placed it back on the tray. "We don't want you getting sick now do we? You've been out for a few days, you were getting a bit dehydrated. Had us all worried, you did."

Rosa decided to ignore his comments, "Who was speaking, before?"

Clint's eyebrows furrowed slight in confusion, "What do you mean? There was no one in here before."

Rosa felt sick, discomfort rippling through her body, "There was no one in here?"

"No," Clint shook his head, "Only I've been in here, I had to tell the rest off for trying to come in. Newt's been in a few times though; gave him a right scare, you did."

"Newt." Rosa breathed, giving a mental note to herself to ask him if he had said anything. "So, what have I missed?"

"Well we had a gathering about you, greenie." The man told her, taking a seat on the end of her bed. "A few people wanted to throw you in the slammer."

"What's the slammer?" Rosa couldn't help but ask, although the man didn't seem to mind.

"It's like our jail." The man shrugged, "Oh klunk, I never told you my name. The name's Clint." He held a hand out to the girl.

"Nice to meet you," Rosa smiled shyly and shook his hand, content with how relaxed the conversation was going. "What did everyone say about me?"

"Well, we ruled against throwing you in the slammer." Clint said with a shake of his head, "It was silly really, but we don't need to get into that. It was where you were going to sleep we were worried about. Stupid shanks ain't seen a girl before, so we can't be taking any risks."

"And?" Rosa pressed on, edging closer to Clint in her desperation.

"We had a room that we've been using to keep supplies." Clint continued on, not bothered by Rosa's interest or questions. "So we're going to be moving the supplies into the medicine cupboard for now." He gestured to the first door Rosa had noticed. "The builders are going to start building a room where they'll be kept from now on."

"So, I get the supply room?" Rosa asked, relief lifting from her shoulders when it clicked in her brain that she wouldn't be sleeping outside with the majority of the guys.

"Yeah." Clint nodded, "Going to move this very bed into the room for you. Can't have our only lady sleeping on the floor now, can we?"

Rosa fell back into her original sitting position, "That's too much. You guys need these, I can sleep on the floor!"

"Nonsense, it's been decided." Clint waved her off with a lazy hand, reaching over to pull the tray into her lap. "We only have one girl in the Glade, we best treat her right."

"Alright." Rosa succumbed, noting that Clint's happy tone wasn't going to disappear anytime soon. She picked up the spoon in the bowl and started eating the soup. It was leek and potato, rather watery, but Rosa didn't complain.

"Good that."

Rosa opened her mouth to say something else but she was cut off when the door opened once more, revealing the familiar face of Newt. He looked frustrated and grumpy, mumbling something like; "Bloody girl's going to be the death of me."

"Glad I make such an impact in your life." Rosa commented with a smirk of her own plastered onto her face.

Newt looked up, startled at the sound of her voice. "You're awake?" He let his shoulders fall in a sense of silent relief and made his way over to the chair by Rosa's bed.

Rosa noticed he had a limp but said nothing about it, she, too, knew what it was like to have something you didn't want to talk about.

ك

After her few days of being out of it, Rosa finally got to meet Nick. The leader of the Glade, who was supposed to have met her when she got out the box. Alby said Nick had other things to tend to, without saying much else. Nick was a good-looking boy around the age of 18. He had tanned-skin and a square jaw much like Newt's - not that she was saying he was attractive or anything. Nick was tall, probably the tallest of them all, Rosa would guess. She only came up to the middle of his arm.

Unlike the rest, Rosa had not been shown what a Griever looked like, due to the fact that they didn't want their only girl passing out on them again. Rosa hadn't even heard the word, Griever, yet so she wasn't aware she was missing out on anything.

She had also asked Newt if he had said anything at her bedside, and he looked rather confused, stating that he hadn't said a word. That unsettled Rosa and she decided against telling them about the voices she was hearing; even she knew that wasn't a good sign.

"And the tour starts!" Nick cheered, happily. It was easy to see why he was the leader. He was cheerful and could make anyone laugh, however, Nick could also be very intimidating without that smile on his face. "Okay greenbean, let's get to it."

Nick led the girl over to the lift, the very thing that she had been transported, horribly, through. "This here is our box. Attractive, isn't it?" He mocked with a shake of his head. "Once a month, we get a new greenie like you, although we've never had a girl before, so maybe not like you."

Rosa stifled a giggle and just nodded at Nick who seemed to be talking to himself, really.

"Once a week, we get supplies. Clothes and stuff, we get some food sometimes. They gave us a pile of matresses that we used for the Homestead - we'll get to that later though." Nick gave one final flourish toward the box and started onward toward his next destination.

Rosa opened her mouth for a question to fall out but Nick cut her off.

"We don't know anything about the box, if that's what you're going to ask." He was spot on, knowing that Rosa was going to ask who sent the stuff. "We don't know who sends us stuff, people or why we're sent here. They just do, took us a while to accept it."

"What about the water and animals?" Rosa nodded toward where animal pen was.

"We have a pump for the water over by the gardens, it's always been there. Same with the electrity, the showers and the toilets they sent us."

"They look like portaloos." Rosa commented.

"They really do, don't they?" Nick let out a bark of laughter, planting his feet suddenly, causing Rosa to run into his back. "These are the gardens. There's that pump I told you about. It doesn't rain here, it's always sunny and roasting." He paused, "Track-hoes work here. You'll try that eventually."

Nick went on to explain the Deadheads, the Graveyard that lay in the thicker part of the forest, or wood as he had put it. They all spoke weird, Rosa thought. He then spoke briefly about the Bloodhouse, which made Rosa shiver instantly. She did not want to work as a slicer. Then they finally made it back around to the Homestead.

"We eat all of our meals here, except the runners of course, they eat lunch out in the maze." Nick informed the girl who couldn't believe how tall the building was. "Used to be much smaller, but our builders have expanded it quite a bit."

"Did you say maze?" Rosa blurted, her mouth agape as she finally found out what was behind those walls. She knew she wasn't allowed to leave, but no one told her why.

"Really, greenie?" Nick looked amused, "No one let that slip? I expected Newt to, if I'm honest. We have runners who run out into the maze when the walls open, looking for an exit. They come back before nightfall, that's when the walls close again. You get used to it, honest."

Rosa decided not to ask anything else about the maze. She didn't want to know.

"The keepers sleep in the homestead, there's nine jobs main jobs, the ones you'll be sorted into. Builder, Bricknick, Sloppers, Baggers, Cooks, Slicers, Track-Hoes, Med-Jacks and the Runners. You spend a day with each of them, starting tomorrow, you'll be a slicer."

Rosa wrinkled her nose, feeling quite sick at the thought of having to butcher animals. "So, I hear I've got a room now?"

"Yep." Nick didn't seem bothered that Rosa knew that. "Had the Builders move the stuff, the Sloppers are too weak for that. They already moved your bed and the boxes sent for you in there."

"Thanks." Rosa nodded to Nick, who smiled in return before turning to bark at some slackers.

Rosa thumped up the staircase, desperate to see where she would be sleeping. One day, only one day she had free, and she was going to enjoy it. Unpacking was something she enjoyed, it was rather odd.

On the door had her name lazily carved into it, Rosa wondered who had done it. She guessed Nick put them up to it so he wouldn't have to show her where it was. Rosa was thankful for that.

Opening the door with a creak, Rosa hesitantly stepped into the small room, checking her surroundings. There was only enough room for her bed and a large chest that was placed next to the door. She had one window that was covered with one of their towels - Rosa guessed this was to stop people trying to spy on her.

Her bed was on the left side of the room while the window was on the right. It was pushed up against the wall with the box set neatly on her bed. Rosa wondered who had been the one to sort through her things, it almost made her nervous.

In the box was a stack of clothing - a pair of black cargo trousers, two pairs of brown shorts, two white t-shirts, three black t-shirts and a pair of black trainers. Rosa was already wearing brown cargo trousers, a white shirt and black boots. The next items she pulled out made her blush at the thought of someone rifling through the box. She had three white bras, one black and five pairs of pants (underwear).

It got worse, however, when Rosa pulled out a box that had a note attached to it.

_'Don't keep in for over six hours.'_

This was accompanied by a watch. Rosa opened the box and her face flushed completely red when she pulled out a tampon. She _did not _want to know who went through the box, they would tease her for the rest of their life.

It was Newt, she knew it. Nick would have made him do it, he was too busy and so was Alby. She would never be able to face him ever again.

They had also sent her some maxi pads for when she slept. Rosa shoved the two boxes into the chest, keeping them at the very bottom so she wouldn't have to face them very often. Her underwear went in after it, followed by the trousers and shorts, then the t-shirts. The trainers sat outside the box.

Rosa gave herself a moment to breath and control her breathing before checking the last of the items in the box. There was a hairbrush and a box of hairbands, complete with a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. She wondered whether the rest had toothbrushes. There were two razors in there, Rosa was thankful for that, glad that she didn't have to prance around in shorts with hairy legs.

The box was empty now and Rosa stored it at the end of her bed in the corner for any dirty laundry. She pulled out a white t-shirt, a pair of brown shorts, a fresh pair of pants and kept one of the razors in her hands. Rosa tucked the razor and her underwear between the shorts and her t-shirt, not wanting anyone to see them.

After successfully tracking down Newt and refusing to look at him, Rosa convinced him to guard the shower for her so no one came in. That was something she really did not want to experience. Newt agreed instantly, giving Rosa the idea that Nick had already talked him into it.

Rosa stood under the freezing cold water, shivering uncontrollably as she ran the soap they had all over her body before quickly shaving under her arms and her legs. She rubbed the soap onto her hands, collecting the suds so she could use it in her hair as a shampoo.

Careful not to get soap in her eye, Rosa washed her hair, running her hands through the locks with difficulty.

Finally done, Rosa dried herself off and threw the towel into a box by the door - the Gladers had the same idea about the boxes. After she was changed, Rosa tied her hair up with a bobble from around her wrist to stop her damp hair seeping through the back of her white shirt.

It didn't help much.

Newt was sitting by the door, looking rather bored by the time that Rosa stepped out of the room with the razor tucked in her pocket. She had dumped her dirty clothes with her towel in the hamper.

"About time." Newt commented, pulling himself up with the help of the wall. "Thought you were drowning or something."

"Ha, ha." Rosa stuck her tongue out at the boy before running off toward the Homestead to stash her razor.

"I feel used!" Newt cried behind her, unable to stop the smirk forming on his face.

Rosa let out a laugh, not pausing as she threw her response over her shoulder, "Good that!"

* * *

><p><strong><span>Reviewers:<span>**** OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have never had such a positive response from my first chapter before! Four reviews? Honestly, thank you so so much! Please continue to review, it inspired me to put this chapter out a little earlier!**

**nataliez - **_Thank you, this one is a little short though, but I hoped you enjoyed it too! :)_

**softball007 - **_Well, I have a long plan for Rosa and Newt, however you will be seeing their first sort of couple thing in a good few chapters - doesn't mean it'll last... Rosa has a lot of problems and she needs to be able to understand them before she and Newt can have anything serious. I'm glad you like Rosa! I thought she was too much of a Mary-Sue! Anyways, thank you for your review! :D_

**.otaku - **_Thank you so much, I did hurriedly write from chapter two - four, so it won't be up to my normal standards but I hope it was okay!_

**StarRunner1 - **_Can I just say that your review left a big fat smile on my face? First of all, nice pun, hahaha! Had me lol-ing for a good while, so thanks for that! I literally spent hours trying to fix the box scene because I was so unhappy with it, but I'm so glad that you liked the chapter, hope this one is okay for you too! I am a rather visual person and I will try to paint a picture as much as possible, hence why I described the Glade - rather briefly though. Thank you for your review, hope to hear from you again! :)_


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n: Okay, so this is the new chapter three, the original will still come into play except it will be roughly chapter nine now, I'm adding in a good few chapters to make Newt and Rosa's friendship grow before I suddenly decide to skip three months ahead. **

**I know the chapters are quite short, only a couple thousand words but when we get onto the original storyline then it'll bulk up a bit more.**

**ALSO; I'm sorry for the lack of updates on this story, I'm just going through something right now. Someone in my family isn't doing too well and they're in hospital, we don't think they're going to make it much longer. So, that's sort of why I've lost inspiration lately. I hope everything will pick up again... Thanks for understanding :)**

**Disclaimer: The dictionary doesn't have my name on it.**

_.03._

_Two girls were sitting in a silver car, the engine running quickly out of gas. The journey was bumpy and caused the two to lurch forward in their seats, books tumbling out of their hands simultaneously. One let out a frustrated growl and thrust her head through the gap between the driver and passenger seats. Her brown hair swung in front of her, eyes landing on the person sitting in front of the steering wheel._

_"Do you mind?" She snapped, her fingernails digging into the fabric of his seat._

_"Just sit back down, honey, we need to get there quickly." The man replied to his daughter, urging her to sit back down in her seat. "We're being expected."_

_"By who, dad?" The other girl asked, her book was sitting in her hand, suggesting she had swiftly recovered it. _

_"Someone who is very eager to meet your dad, Bethany." His eyes met the first brunette's fiery gaze, "So, I suggest you get yourself under control, Samantha."_

ك

Rosa had been excited all day long after hearing that they would be having a campfire to celebrate her arrival. It would have happened days ago had she not passed out on them; the Gladers had been very disappointed that it was postponed, each one looking forward to blowing off some steam and kicking back to enjoy the fire. Even Gally had been working hard to get his "special recipe" prepared for them all. Everyone was looking forward to Rosa's reaction to the ghastly drink.

Rosa didn't really know anyone at the Glade still, she was anxious about meeting everyone that night. She knew Newt and Nick, but would say that she knew Nick more and would stay glued to his side for the whole night. Nick liked Rosa, he liked how she kept people on their toes, never knowing what mood she would be in.

The girl ran her fingers through her long, wavy brown hair and kept it down that day, deeming that it was a special occasion despite the incredible heat. She had pulled on her cargo trousers and a black shirt, practically dressed completely in black, but it didn't bother her that much. Rosa had never been so excited for something before, not that there was much to look forward to in the Glade...

A knock on the door roused Rosa from her thoughts and she frowned, "Come in!" She called, closing her chest and bouncing backwards onto her bed.

Clint's head poked around the corner and he smiled sheepishly before entering the room, his eyes falling on the towel that was covering the window. He chortled, "So, that's where our towel went missing to."

Rosa let herself smile and nodded, "I don't trust the people here, you're all boys."

"Too true." Clint bobbed his head in agreement, taking another step into the room that wasn't as hesitant as his ones before. "I just wanted to ask you about that person who was talking to you before." Rosa's heart thumped loudly, a lump forming in her throat. "Did you ever find out who it was?"

"Newt." She answered with a lie immediately, knowing that another gathering would be called if she admitted to hearing voices. If they wanted to throw her in the slammer because of her gender then she didn't want to know what they'd do if they found out that she was going crazy. "Newt was just talking to himself about stuff."

"Oh okay." Clint seemed to accept her response and nodded his head again. "Well, you better get ready for the campfire, you are our guest of honour!"

"Shut up." Rosa murmured, resisting the temptation to stick her tongue out at him. "I'll fry you like a marshmallow."

Clint chose to leave the room then, chortling cheerfully as he went. Rosa had resisted to throw her pillow after him, but knew that it would only result in her having to get off of her rather comfortable bed. What could she say? She was lazy.

After a good ten minutes of lying there, debating against staying or getting up and actually going to have fun; her decision was made up - and Nick had to come and collect her.

He had laughed, striding over to where she was and pulling her up by the hand. "Come on, Rose. We've got a campfire to get to."

The Glade was almost completely pitch black at this point; the walls having closed up hours before the preparations for the campfire had been set up. Gally looked all too happy with himself, standing in the middle of a circle that he had drawn himself - Rosa was rather confused at that. Alby was standing beside the firepit, with a lit torch in his hand. The rest of the Keepers were standing in a similar position, around the campfire with a burning torch in hand.

Nick led Rosa over to the fire, taking his spot in between Zart and Alby - he was there due to the fact that he was second in command. Rosa stood behind him, watching in awe as all of the Keepers, one by one, brought their torch down to the stacked wood in the middle of them. It looked like a circular Mexican wave. She thought it was beautiful.

The fire had been lit and the Keepers had all sat down, Alby and Nick were standing before them all. Nick took a step forward, addressing them all with his hands. "Today, we celebrate the arrival of our new greenie; Rosa!" There was a scattered applause with cheers and whistles of admiration - the latter made Rosa feel uncomfortable and fidget in her seat that she had been ushered into, between Gally and Clint. "Now, enjoy yourselves!"

Gally took that as a starting gun as he sped from his seat on the wooden log and darted over to where his circle was. People were already crowding around it, making a horrendous level of noise that echoed around the Glade - though no one seemed to mind that much. Rosa watched them all as Gally picked his first challenger and they seemed to be dancing with each other, avoiding, twisting and turning, before Gally lunged forward and pushed the boy out of the ring. He fell backwards onto the ground with an 'oof' and Gally was deemed victorious.

"Careful." A voice said from behind her, causing the girl to jump and utter a word that would have gotten her a bar of soap shoved in her mouth back home. "Wow, aren't you just a charmer."

Rosa whirled around to see who had startled her, relaxing when she saw that it had been Newt. "Newt, you scared me."

"Sorry." He grinned, stepping over the log and taking Gally's space beside her. He had two glass containers in his hand, which were both filled with a murky brown liquid that had Rosa questioning the blond's intentions. "Gally's special recipe." He announced, handing one of the glasses to the brunette. "We don't have a clue what he puts in it, but it tastes like klunk and knocks most onto their asses."

"Classy." Rosa let out a laugh, peering down at the glass. She didn't want to drink it all that much and made to put it down, but that was when she noticed that half of the Gladers were staring at her, each one excited to see what her reaction would be to it. Rosa turned to Newt, a frown on her face. "What are they looking at me for?"

"They want to see how you take it." Newt told her honestly, "Most spit it out, others have passed out straight away. One greenie was jumping and squealing until someone slapped him.

"That wasn't you, was it?" Rosa teased, hoping that the Gladers would look away and she wouldn't have to drink the horrid stuff.

"You wish." Newt laughed in return, "Now stop dawdling and drink."

Rosa shot him a dirty look, her nose wrinkling at the drink. She gathered up the small remains of her courage, threw her head back and launched some of the "special recipe" down her throat before she could think twice about it. All down her throat burned, her stomach too, threatening to throw up her last meal. Rosa refused to let it win, closing her eyes with the struggle to keep it all down. The taste was horrible, and incredibly strong. Just a few sips of the stuff could get you drunk out of your mind.

After a moment, Rosa opened her eyes again to meet the rest of the Glader's stare. "Not bad." She lied, her mouth pulling up into a satisfied grin at their stunned faces. Gally's was the best, by far, looking completely and utterly horrified.

"Why don't you take another sip." Gally suggested, a challenging glint in his eyes.

Rosa's eyes narrowed, completely against having to repeat that action. She couldn't let him win, not Gally. Hoping she wouldn't regret it in the morning, Rosa lifted the glass to her lips, taking a sip of the burning drink. She went one step further, throwing her head back and chugging the whole glass down. The sound of her swallowing gulps was the only noise that echoed through the Glade - everyone was too busy watching the girl.

Finished; rather disgusted but satisfied, Rosa pulled the glass from her lips. Her stomach was like boiling lava, spitting up and irritating the trail of burning. That one look of disbelief and anger on Gally's face made Rosa rather happy.

She smiled at him and raised her glass toward him. "Happy now, Gally?"

He didn't say anything; but both knew what he was thinking.

Swiftly, Nick stepped in and told the Gladers to get back to their own business, which made Rosa happy at the lack that she was no longer the center of the attention. At least, not obviously.

Rosa turned back to Newt, "And that's how it's done."

"That was amazing."

"I know." Rosa laughed, before realising the unintentional pun in his words. She paused and hesitated against asking the dreaded question: "Newt, what's in the maze?"

Newt visibly winced at her words, taking a swig of his drink to get himself through it. "Grievers."

"I want to see one."

Newt let out a slow breath and nodded, "Okay, I'll show you a Griever."

* * *

><p><span><strong>Reviewers:<strong>

**softball007 - **_Thank you so much, but yes I do not update as often. I need time to write the stories, on top of my own original story that I am writing. This is a hash work of things, which I am not proud of, while most of my time goes toward my story. I am hoping to update more soon, but you know school... it sucks and takes up too much time. Since I am editing, the relationship will not come into play for a long, LONG time, which I apologise for, but there will be some complications and drama that postpone that.  
><em>

**StarRunner1 - **_Okay, that came out wrong. Newt and Rosa will be friends, but they will be put through stuff that will test their relationship. Don't worry about that now though because it won't be until we hit double digits at least, considering now that I'm editing and adding.  
><em>

**Guest - **_Thank you for your review and constructive criticism, you were 100% correct, yes I did rush into the relationship. I wanted to skip to the storyline and important stuff, but I was being lazy. I have re-planned my chapters, edited stuff and I have now postponed the 3 month skip until about chapter nine. Yes, Rosa does not ask questions about her dreams because she knows that hearing voices aren't normal, and if she almost got put in the slammer for being a girl then she didn't know what would happen if they found out she was possibly crazy. So, that isn't going to change since it is a big part of my plot._ _However, that being said, I did find it quite degrading that you recommended another story and said it was a good fanfiction. To me, that implied that mine was not. All the same, thank you for your review.**  
><strong>_


	4. Chapter 4

**a/n: It's 10pm now and I probably won't be finished writing this bulk of chapters until about 4am. You betta luv meh. Me and ma ice tea, oh so fancy. **

**I finished this tiny piece of crap in an hour – I am so slow. Sry.**

**PLEASE GO BACK AND READ CHAPTER 3, IT HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED! THIS CHAPTER WILL NOT MAKE SENSE!**

**Disclaimer: I love Lipton Peach Ice Tea; I need nicotine chewing gum for it or something.**

_.04._

_Bethany stood behind her sister and father, watching as they walked forward swiftly to meet the man within the fences. He had a twisted facial feature, as if he was trying to smile but remain stern. Bethany decided that she did not like this man._

_Samantha was quite the opposite, looking upon the man as if he were god, about to bring a cure to save the world. She turned to her sister and ushered her on with a hand._

_Bethany moved forward toward her sister, she would do anything for her. Death would be too sweet if it meant the safety of her twin._

_Samantha smiled when Bethany slid her hand into her own, turning back to face the man in front of them. She would do anything for him; even sacrifice her own twin sister._

_So alike; yet so different. _

_Doomed until the end._

ك

"Please Newt?"

"Not today, Rosa."

"You promised!"

Newt ran a hand through his shaggy blond hair, eyes closing in frustration at the question she had asked him every day. He had hoped the awful hangover she had the day after the campfire meant she was too drunk to remember what he had said. Apparently not, since she had not once let it go.

"I want to see the grievers."

"And you will, Rosa." Newt responded with a firm tone, "Don't ask me again, today. Okay?"

"Fine." Rosa pouted, resting her head back on her knees that were tucked against her chest. They were both sitting on a bench at a breakfast table, Rosa facing Newt with her legs up, while Newt was sitting with his head in his hands. He was rather tired, having to deal with the girl for the whole night with her continuous pestering about the creatures in the maze.

"Newt?"

"Bloody hell, what now?"

"Why don't you remember anything?" Rosa asked, not realising how the question sounded until afterward, directing it away from herself. To cover her tracks, she added: "When you come out of the box, I mean. As a greenie."

"We think they take our memories." Newt told her, pulling his head away from his palms to look at the girl. "The Creators of the Maze. We think that they take them away so we can't remember who we were, before all this."

Rosa frowned, unable to understand the voices she heard. Were they her memories coming back? She doubted it; her name was Rosa, not Samantha. It made her question everything she already knew. Who was Samantha? Who was Bethany?

She stopped asking questions, the answers too horrible to even imagine.

"You done?"

"Yeah, I'm done."

"Great, you start work as a slicer."

"How fantastic."

ك

Rosa did not like being a slicer - Winston seemed a little _too _into cutting up animals. She took one look at the pigs and started cooing at them, her face pulling up into a smile, her mouth letting out a squeal that you would hear from a typical girl. Winston had muttered a comment she didn't hear - but knew would be offensive - and yanked her off toward where the machinery was, inside the hut.

Rosa wanted to cry. It was that simple. Watching Winston lure in a cute pig had her wailing, bawling and all above, crying. She hadn't cried when she was thrust into the box, whilst inside or when she got out. Seeing a pig sentenced to death was too much for her; she pleaded to the jury but it was declared as guilty.

"Hold the pig for me, Rosa."

"No!" Rosa cried, shaking her head furiously. "No, no, no. I will not harm Babe."

"You named it Babe?"

"I don't know, it feels right."

Winston snorted unattractively. "Yeah, you can call the next one, Babe 2."

"Great idea!" Rosa brightened up at the idea but then deflated visibly. "No, that means you have to get rid of the first one." She stuck her lip out, stubbornly. "I refuse to harm such a cute and innocent animal. What did it do to you, Winston?"

"We need to eat, Rosa."

"Adam and Eve ate apples, not poultry!"

"They also didn't wear clothes, want to follow after them now?"

"No, I'm alright. Kill the pig."

Ten seconds later, there was a shriek and Rosa came bolting out of the room, her eyes wide and hair a mess. Winston had pulled out his knife and Rosa had legged it, ignoring his calls of protest. She had thrown over her shoulder that he could sacrifice animals without her and that she was not going to bow down to Satan. For the rest of the short day, Rosa distracted herself by talking to Frypan - who didn't help and talked about how he had to rinse the blood off of the bacon he got - and Nick. He didn't seem too bothered that she ran away from Winston, truthfully, he had been expecting it.

Rosa hadn't even been ashamed when she returned to the hut and promptly threw up into the greenie bucket.

Babe was on the kitchen table the next morning.

**RE-READ CHAPTER 3! IT HAD CHANGED AND THE TIME SKIP HAD BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL LATER!**


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n: I am so full right now, I just want to curl up and sleep. But I'm writing this for you guys. Literally like two minutes after finishing and backing up the last chapter. Who knew writing and editing and re-writing stuff was so tiring? Ha, I don't do all that, I write and leave it until you guys tell me I did something wrong. Even then, I sometimes don't change it. Too much effort to export it and stuff - ugh, my finger gets tired guys.**

**Okay, I may have wasted 15 minutes practically crying over Delena. My shipper heart is broken :(**

**Disclaimer: I do not own these fancy striped black, grey and white socks. Literally, they're my friends and I haven't given them back yet. Oops?**

_.05._

_She remembered seeing a boy with brown hair and the kindest brown eyes. If only they reflected his personality._

_Samantha didn't like him._

ك

To say that working with Gally was painful, was a serious understatement. Rosa regretted challenging him that night when she drank his "special recipe". She should have rolled over at his feet and licked his shoes clean, anything that would have given her a free-pass out of misery and pain. Every muscle ached, every bone felt as if broken, her joints were sore and she felt as if someone had just whisked her up inside a blender. It did not feel good.

"Rosa?"

"No."

"What?"

"I refuse to work, at all." Rosa grumbled from her bed. She was flat as a board and hadn't moved an inch since she fell asleep. Even her sub-conscious thought it was too much to handle - and you're not supposed to feel pain when you're asleep. "Gally literally put me through the mill."

"Don't feel too bad." Newt said, a smirk pulling at his lip. "It's not your fault that you can't handle it."

That got her up - with a wince and a growl of pain, Rosa had jumped up from her bed, fire in her eyes at the accusation of being weak. All before she realised she had fallen into his trap. "Oh bloody hell."

"Stealing my lines too." Newt shook his finger at her, teasingly. "Great, now you're up, you can get changed and join me for breakfast."

"Where am I working today?" Rosa asked with a groan, "Don't say the sloppers, I couldn't deal with that."

"Track-hoes." Newt threw back, turning to the door, ready to leave so Rosa had her privacy to change.

"Fantastic, you and Zart today. Kill me."

"How rude."

ك

It had taken a good hour after the walls had opened to get Rosa changed, fed and watered before Newt could drag her over to the vegetable patches to work. He gave her the easy job, picking the apples from the trees, but apparently that was too hard for her.

He wasn't sure how it had happened, but Rosa was lounging under a tree, out of the sun's dangerous rays, while Newt picked the apples from the trees for her. What could he say? He felt bad on it. That was, until, he threw an apple at her, whacking her smack in the middle of her forehead.

"Ouch!" She whined, hand shooting up to the offended area. "Newt!" She shrieked, eyes flashing open to glare at him.

Newt looked all too happy with himself, half-way back to where the gardens were. Rosa lunged up from her spot and darted across the green to get to him. Newt was two step ahead of her, taking an advantage when Zart appeared near him. Knowing that Rosa wouldn't risk getting caught out with her "boss", Newt struck up a conversation, grinning at Rosa over his shoulder.

Zart didn't notice Rosa until she popped up beside Newt. "Great, you're back. The two of you can get planting the lettuce."

"Great." Rosa and Newt said simultaneously, neither being too happy about having to work with a hoe - no pun intended.

The two positioned themselves at a recently cleared patch and picked up a hoe each, starting to turn over the earth. Rosa was watching Newt's movements, trying to copy him the best that she could without totally flipping the dirt at everyone. A light bulb went off in her head and Rosa's mouth pulled up into a mischievous grin. Swiping her hoe in his direction, the dirt flew toward Newt, covering his body in the uprooted earth.

"Revenge." Rosa let out a dreamy sigh. "Is so sweet."

That's when a cloud of dirt hit her in the face.

Zart had to break up their fight in the end, but Rosa swore that she won.

Everyone else knew that she didn't.


	6. Chapter 6

**a/n: I am so tired and I'm running out of Ice Tea. I'm going to sleep to preserve it. Bye. It didn't last long, I'm going through withdrawal.**

**Never mind, I got some more now.**

**I'm out again.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own a checkbook, sorry.**

* * *

><p><em>.06.<em>

_Samantha was too far gone, Bethany noticed. She would follow him anywhere, as if he was her King and she were his Queen._

_It was like a twisted game of chess._

_And he was winning._

ك

It was a good start to the day, Rosa could admit.

The day before had been spent with Frypan and his crew in the kitchens. It was full of laughter and sometimes music made with the pots and pans in the cupboards. No one actually knew any music so it was just a lot of tapping and banging with wooden spoons and metal whisks. Rosa had liked Frypan before, but she had practically fallen in love with him after spending the day with him. He was lenient, funny and extremely kind - not to mention he made a mean omelet.

Stan, Pete and Yaxley (Yax) were alright, too.

The sun was just starting to peak over the top of the walls, signalling it was still about an hour until the walls would open. Rosa had opened her eyes around ten minutes before Newt knocked on her door and entered the room - rather surprised to see her standing by the window, holding the towel up (it had been nailed to the wall eventually) to watch the sunset.

"I didn't know you were one of those girls."

"Huh?" Rosa whirled around, hand slipping from the towel in the process. "Oh right." She let out a hesitant laugh. "It's just the first sunrise I have seen in the Glade, I'm usually passed out from exhaustion or heat stroke. I missed it."

"Don't worry." Newt reassured her with a grin, "There's plenty of those to come, you'll get to see one eventually."

"I guess." Rosa bobbed her head in agreement, hands slipping into the pockets of her trousers. "Did you need something?"

"Well, Rosie. It's time to meet your first griever."

Rosa had been beyond ecstatic, dancing around her bedroom like a seven year old that believed they could fly or aspired to become a ballerina. That didn't stop as Newt led her over to the Map room. She literally skipped through the door way and cracked her head on the top of the door frame, but she didn't seem to notice, bounding into the room as if nothing had happened.

Newt shook his head at her and took her by the elbow, leading her over toward the window at the back of the room.

Rosa waited; and waited; and waited.

She was starting to believe they were invisible when something moved to the left of her, slowly and then all at once. It flew at the glass, creating a loud smacking sound that would have easily broken a normal window. Rosa had her breath held, her eyes wide at the sight of the creature. It was black and made almost completely up of machinery. It's torso looked as if it were fleshy and it's face reminded Rosa of a bigger, uglier and scarier caterpillar.

That made her laugh.

Newt's head snapped to look at the girl's face, that was struggling not to let a smile break out. "What the bloody hell are you laughing at?" He demanded, a little harsher than he had meant.

Rosa was taken aback by his tone and the smile totally fell from her face. "Nothing. Sorry."

Newt let out a sigh, realising how much of a jerk he was being. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just, no one's ever laughed at a griever before. We've had someone have a heart attack in here. No joke, around seventeen, healthy as a horse and he just dropped. Dead."

Rosa's mouth had dropped, almost touching the floor. "Really? But... it looks like a giant caterpillar on mechanical legs... With a gooey moisturiser..."

He couldn't help it, but he too cracked a smile at that thought, looking at the griever who had decided it was a good time to retreat. The walls were opening any minute and they disappeared before it did, it was the oddest thing and it hadn't always been like that. Newt knew that all too well.

"You know, you're something else, Rosa."

Rosa couldn't stop the smile that pulled across her face, nor the blush that worked it's way to her cheeks.

If Newt noticed, he didn't say anything.

ك

Minho approached the girl when she and Newt came out of the Map room, surprised to see that she was not crying or being carried after passing out. He nodded to Newt, raising an eyebrow toward the greenie. Newt shook his head, deciding to tell him later about her reaction to it. Minho accepted that.

"Greenie, you're with me."

"What?"

"You're going to be a runner for the day."

"You mean, I get to go into the maze?"

"No, you're going to sit and stare at it."

"Is that sarcasm?"

"Obviously."

"Ah."

ك

Running through the maze proved to be an easy task for Rosa, despite the layer of sweat that had formed across the whole of her body in the blistering heat. She and the other runners had split up, with the exception of Minho who was required to stay with her for the duration of her exploration in the maze.

He had expected Rosa to stare, stunned at the walls that towered above them or the extreme lengths of the passages. Instead? She had slowly approached the wall opposite the entrance and ran one hand across it, as if assessing the stone it were made out of, and then she turned back around to ask if they were waiting for the grass to grow. Minho didn't understand how she could be so accepting of everything in the Glade. She barely asked questions compared to the other greenies, didn't appear phased after seeing a griever and simply stalked into the maze, raving to go.

To be honest, Rosa didn't either.

She wanted to be petrified, or even slightly disturbed by the extreme height of the walls or the fact that at any moment, the walls had the ability to crush her. The fact that it didn't marginally phase her, the thought that everything looked... familiar? Was the most terrifying thing of all.

"Hurry up, greenie!"

Rosa snapped back into reality, her eyes latching onto the back of Minho's dirty shirt. She frowned and forced herself onward, faster, confused as to how she fell so far behind when she was originally in front. As Rosa finally turned the corner that Minho merely disappeared behind, she froze and horror filled her up.

Stood, directly in front of her, was a griever.

And up close, it did not look like a caterpillar. It looked more like death staring you right back in the face.

Rosa couldn't move, turned into a bag of nerves that had her frozen to the spot. Her legs were quivering madly, too shaky to even comprehend moving a finger. Her eyes had widened, lower lip trembled, and Minho was no where in sight - not that he could exactly do anything to help her out.

The griever moved one mechanical leg forward, as if testing her next move. When she didn't budge, not even flex a muscle, it pounced upon her, it's heavy weight knocking her to the ground easily, as if she were a badly structured sandcastle with the sides falling off.

Rosa let out a piercing scream that she was sure the entire Glade had heard and felt red-hot pain strike all over her body, the most unbearable thing she had ever had to endure, was repeatedly getting stabbed all over her body by a horrifying creature. A creature, that wasn't supposed to be out during the day.

She was shaking, and not from fear anymore, but violently. A force that she, herself, could not be making.

"ROSA! Rosa! Stop screaming! GREENIE!"

Rosa jolted forward, her arms flailing in the process. Her heart was beating hard, pounding painfully against her ribcage. Rosa let her hands roam over her stomach and legs where she had been pierced by the griever, but found no wounds there, no deep and bleeding evidence of her near-death experience.

"Minho?" Rosa spluttered, her voice frantic, after her eyes finally focused on who was sitting in front her. His face was chalk-white and he looked as if he was going to either throw up or pass out. "What the hell just happened? Where's the griever?!"

"That's the thing, Rosa." Minho started, hesitating upon thinking how to respond. "There was no griever."

* * *

><p><span><strong>Reviewers:<strong> **You guys are too kind! I am getting so many reviews and this makes me very happy! Thank you all so much!**

**softball007 - **_Yeah, I want to develop the relationship a bit more before everything speeds up suddenly. Their relationship will be like a rollercoaster, and that's just their friendship. I can't wait to write the fluffiness and cuteness, honestly, I love writing relationships. Albeit, Newt's reaction to the relationship will be completely my own considering he isn't ever in a relationship in the stories. Oh well, we'll see how that goes. :D_

**AwesomeGirl - **_Thank you so much, I have had difficultly trying to make the story original even if the start is the same as always. I promise there is a storyline there, we're just uncovering it slowly! No, she doesn't have a firepower, she doesn't have any supernatural powers, but she has an emotional(?) power over someone, if that counts? Can I ask why you thought she did, haha? I'm curious :D Thanks for your review!_

**TheGoldenApple10 - **_Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Clint is a brilliant character, I really do love him. I feel like he was brushed over in the books but not actually looked at, so yeah. He will be a bigger part of the story as he is Rosa's boss and friend. :P_

**Travelsong - **_Sorry! I have so little time right now, but I'll try to upload faster :)_


	7. Chapter 7

**a/n: I'm such a horrible person, omg. I'm so sorry about the late updates. I usually try to write a lot and get everything updated in time, but these filler chapters are KILLING me. I have up to chapter 22 briefly planned, but I still have two/three filler chapter to write until I have a good few already written. Why did I rewrite again? D:**

**Disclaimer: Should've gone to Specsavers. I went to Vision Express.**

_.07._

_Rachel frowned at the screen, her eyes flickering across the notes that she had been given. A monster? She had to create it? She bit her lip, almost drawing blood with the pressure. She let out a whine and mentally slapped herself for being vulnerable. _

_"Stop it, Rachel." She scolded herself, placing her fingers back on the keyboard and started to type in codes upon codes and codes. She would have to send them down to the scientists on one of the floors below so they could evaluate it and make it all happen._

_What had happened to her?_

_How did she get to this point in her life?_

_Bethany was gone; she was dead. Yet she couldn't bring herself to feel sad about it – because she didn't know._

_Neither did Samantha._

_She was too far gone._

_ك_

"Banishment!" Gally screamed, white in the face, pointing a finger in Rosa's direction.

Rosa was sitting on a seat in the middle, twiddling her thumbs around each other with her eyes closed. She was slowly coming to terms with what had happened; she was hallucinating. She was going crazy, off her rocker. She guessed that the maze was having a bigger effect on her than she originally thought.

"That's some klunk, Gally!" Minho spat, standing from his chair in a similar stance to the former. "It's not her fault that she's seeing stuff! She was sent here for a reason, we need to accept this and let things pan out!"

"Maybe she was sent here so we can reproduce!" Another cried, and this caught Rosa's attention.

Her eyes snapped open and she frowned, a growl omitting from her throat. "Excuse me?" She saidly lowly, her voice quiet and deadly. "I am not some baby machine that is going to magically bring life to this sorry excuse for a village or whatever you call it here."

"That's enough, Rosa." Nick snapped, sending a glare her way. She rolled her eyes but fell silent. "Rosa is not here for reproducing, and we will not allow that to happen, so remove those thoughts from your mind right now."

"Thanks."

"I thought I told you to shut up."

"Actually, you said 'that's enough'."

"Shut up, Rosa." Nick said firmly, his teeth clenched together.

"Whatever." Rosa scoffed, pulling herself up from her seat, stalking toward the door. "I've had enough of being punished for something that's not my fault. So you know what? Fuck you all. You hear me? Fuck you!" She yelled, blood dripping from her palms, her fingernails digging deep curved marks into her hand. The room was silent and she took off running up the stairs toward her room. It was silent until they heard her door slam.

"She is unstable!" Gally roared, "She must be banished!"

"You're a piece of klunk, Gally." Nick growled, "She has just went through a lot, the least we could do is give her the space she needs. Calling a gathering moments after she comes back is just shucking stupid. All of you get back to work, I'll deal with this!"

"We should vote!"

"Shut up, Gally and get the hell out of my homestead." Nick knew it wasn't his homestead, but that didn't stop him from saying it. It didn't stop Gally from scowling, obeying and stalking out of the room either.

The boys all left the room, slowly, one by one they slipped through the small space that they used for a door and Newt turned to face Nick.

"What are you going to do?" He asked, worry etched across his face.

"I think I'm just going to keep an eye on her." Nick admitted, his eyes flitting over to the staircase that she had run up. "If I just talk to her once a week, every few days, maybe I'll be able to see if any problems arise."

"Better than banishment."

"Definitely better than banishment."

_ك_

The next morning everyone was staring at Rosa as she stormed over to Nick. Really, she was dragging her feet, having had no sleep due to nightmares about grievers trying to kill her. Exhausted was an understatement.

"Hey Nick!" She called, grasping his attention before he stalked off with those long legs of his.

Nick turned upon being called, his eyes snapping to who was flagging him down. "Hey Rosa, how you feeling?" He asked, closing the space between them in four long strides.

"Like klunk." Rosa shrugged, "I didn't get much sleep, but I'll be alright."

"Are you sure you want to work today?" He asked, giving some sort of leeway with her.

"Yeah, I have to earn my keep around here, and the sooner I get my job, the sooner I can fall into a routine like the rest of you." Rosa sighed, hoping that she would be able to work with Frypan in the kitchens.

"Good for you." Nick nodded, pausing for a moment while he thought. "You were with the runners last so you should be with the Med-Jacks."

"With Clint?" Rosa asked, she didn't mind the man but he was very happy, all the time.

"Yep. Get to it." He shooed her off and continued walking, apparently he had important business to take care of in the map room.

Rosa rolled her eyes and made her way back over to the homestead and up the stairs. The med-jacks were situated on the floor below her which apparently was going to bite her in the ass one day when someone got stabbed by a griever. They would scream and cry and she would get zero sleep.

Approaching the door, Rosa bit her lip and raised her hand to knock twice.

"Come in!"

Rosa's hand found the door handle and she opened the door, taking a step into the room where a boy sat on one of the beds. He had blood pouring from his hand and Rosa felt quite queasy. She wasn't very good with blood it seemed.

"Hey Rosa." Clint greeted her, "I didn't know that you were supposed to work with me today."

"Yep." Rosa nodded, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Anything I can do?"

"Can you get some bandages from the store cupboard, a needle and thread too?" Clint asked, ignoring the whine of protest that came from the boy's mouth. "Thanks."

Rosa nodded, remembering what Clint had said the medical cupboard and went through the door to her left, the door shutting behind her. She jumped at the loud slam, and scolded herself mentally for being so silly.

Spotting the bandages easily, she reached up and grabbed them, all the while still looking for the needle and thread. She rummaged through some plastic boxes, finding all kinds of medicine and pain killers. It took her about two minutes to find the needle and another five to find the thread. She made a mental note to tell Clint to label everything.

Rosa turned to go back through the door, pausing when she noticed something on the shelf beside her. It was a syringe, an empty syringe with a rubber cover on the point of the needle.

"_Take it."_

Rosa bit her lip, still staring at the syringe that sat there. She remembered hearing something about injecting an empty syringe into a vein would kill you. An easy death supposedly.

"_It can all be over in an instant."_

Rosa took a step closer to the syringe, her fingers ghosting over the glass.

"_Take it!"_

Rosa jumped backwards, her back pressing against the wall of the room. She let out the breath she was holding, brushed her hair behind her ear and darted out of the room, removing all thoughts about the needle from her mind.

She never wanted to think of it again.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Reviewers:<span>**

**AwesomeGirl – **_Ohhh, right, yeah that kinda does make sense, haha! No, she doesn't have fire powers, but good guess! It won't be explained until the next book though, so a long wait then!_

**softball007 – **_Aw thank you, the fluff is still pretty far off! I'm writing chapter 13 now and it's just about starting. I don't know if you'll like the fluff I've written though *__**evil laugh*. **_

**Stargazer-Dreamcatcher01 – **_Aw, I'm glad they thought it was good enough to recommend! Thank you, I've been having some difficulty with writing stuff and there are things that I will go back and edit. Like the whole of chapter one, I wanted Rosa to be sassy and stuff. I do have a time skip of three months because I cannot be bothered waiting that long to develop their relationship – I'm lazy, haha! The story is a massive part of their relationship, there is a lot of arguments, lack of trust and above all they're trying to have faith in each other and be happy, but it's quite difficult. The chess thing probably won't make another appearance until the second book, when it is explained, Bethany and Samantha too, it won't be completely figured out but hints will be dropped and the Samantha part is figured out in this book. So look forward to that!_

**StarRunner1 – **_Ahahaha, yep! Working 9 – 5. Just the average morning, typing some code, designing some monsters. Toats casual._

_**RileyIsMyName – **__Anna Popplewell is a beautiful actress so yes you can think of Rosa as her if you wish, but the girl on the cover is Phoebe Tonkin, who I have been imagining her as, haha! I actually don't know how I came up with the idea, I just started writing the plan for the chapters and it all started coming out. I started by coming up with what her subject name would be and just based it on that. I can't say much else without giving everything away, sorry!_


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n: So I'm sitting here, looking over my notes for chapter eight and I literally cannot be bothered writing. I'm sick and my throat is so dry no matter how much I drink. I'm going to have a nap, I'll come back to this later.**

**I'm back with sore and blurry eyes so I apologise for any mistakes make. **

**OMG, I HAVE FINISHED THIS CHAPTER AND I HAVE UP TO CHAPTER 12 WRITTEN NOW! Yeah, you're still only getting one every few weeks, sorry not sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I did own Harry Potter, but I don't. Isn't Tom Felton bae?**

_.08._

_Samantha didn't shed a tear at the loss of her sister. She listened to him as he told her about her sister, but the words didn't register in her mind._

"_Wicked is good." She muttered, catching his attention._

"_What did you say?" He asked, his eyebrow pulled up in surprise._

"_Nothing."_

**ك**

Rosa had felt very nervous since she lay down to go to sleep the night before. She lay, staring up at the ceiling on her springy bed pushed against the wall. With the little sleep she had gotten, which was close to none, came sore eyes and an unclear mind.

She was getting claimed today by one of the Keepers, and it had her panicking just a little more than she should be.

A knock on her door signalled that she was to get up and in an instant, she had closed her eyes, turned on her side and curled her legs up to her chest to pretend that she actually had gotten some sleep that night.

Newt hesitantly opened the door, peeking in to see that all was clear before he opened it wider and took a step into the room. He saw Rosa in her bed with her hair pulled back messily behind her head, her face toward the wall.

"Rosa, time to wake up." He said, pausing a few steps away from her sleeping form, "Rosa!"

Rosa snapped her eyes open and let out a sleepy groan, she rolled onto her back, rubbing her eyes from sleep as she did so. "Is it morning already?" She feigned ignorance, popping her muscles as she stretched.

"Yep." Newt nodded, raising an eyebrow at her casual demeanour. "Come on, get dressed, the gathering is about to start so you can get to work straight away."

"Lucky me." Rosa grumbled, pulling herself up into a sitting position and throwing her legs over the side. She padded across the room, wearing a pair of shorts and an over-sized t-shirt that she had stolen from Minho – whom she had been talking to a lot more than before.

Newt watched her as she bent over to open up her chest, allowing his hormones get the better of him for a split-second. At that moment he mentally cursed himself and left through the door without so much as a goodbye. He scolded himself all the way down the stairs and pulled an emotionless mask across his face as he pulled up a chair with the rest of the boys.

Rosa looked at the door that Newt had left through, she was confused, had she done something wrong? With a shrug and a roll of her eyes, she continued raiding through her rather jumbled trunk and pulled out her black cargo pants and a dark blue t-shirt that she had been one of the younger boys before, but they had grown out of it and it was passed down to her.

When Rosa thudded down the stairs of the homestead, she felt everyone's eyes on her and bit her lip to distract herself from the bubble of anxiety that threatened to burst in her stomach. Clearing her throat, she made her way to the seat in the middle at the front and threw herself down into it, almost having a heart attack when it rocked back on it's two back legs. She showed no face about it.

"Now that Rosa is here," Nick gestured to the girl that everyone had noticed show up. "We can get this over and done with quickly."

"Hear hear." Rosa grumbled quietly, her arms now folded over her chest. Nick turned to glare at her and she plastered a fake cheesy smile on her face.

Nick shook his head at her antics and turned back to the room full of people, "After much discussion, Rosa's job has been decided. Will the Keeper please claim Rosa now."

Rosa's eyes darted around the Keepers that sat around her, she resisted the temptation to bite her lip and begged that Minho would not stand up. She met his eyes and he very slightly shook his head, the move was so small that she wasn't sure it was there at all. With a sigh, Rosa was finally able to relax, she would be happy if she was a slopper at this point.

All of the Keepers watched Rosa's reaction as Frypan rose from his seat and took a step toward Rosa. She almost let out a squeal of happiness and did a little jig, but contained herself to a smile at Frypan.

"Now that Rosa the greenie has been claimed," Nick paused for dramatic effect, "Get to work you lazy pieces of klunk!" He flashed a wink at Rosa and stalked out of the homestead, leading by example as the rest piled out after him.

"Congratulations." Newt said from behind her, causing Rosa to jump and whip around quickly.

She let out a little laugh and finally allowed herself to let out a little squeak. Caught in the moment and hyped up on happiness, Rosa threw her arms around his neck. Newt hugged her back and in less than two seconds, they both felt the awkwardness spilling over them. Rosa pulled away first, stumbling away from him.

"Uhm."

"Er..."

"Well."

"Yeah."

"Bye."

"Yep."

The two turned and walked in opposite directions; Newt pinching the bridge of his nose as he left the homestead; Rosa mentally slapping herself, closing her eyes as she did so.

Minho, Zart and Frypan had watched the encounter just as surprised as the two had been. Minho felt a grin pull across his face, Frypan had shaken his head knowingly and Zart appeared indifferent, despite the corners that threatened to pull up at the side of his mouth.

"I give it a week." Minho.

"Are you buggin' kidding me, it's Newt we're talking about. I say six months." Frypan.

Zart shook his head at their bets, "You two are jacked." He made his way over to the door that led out to the Glade, he paused in his steps, not before throwing a final remark over his shoulder. "Four months, tops."

Frypan and Minho exchanged a knowing grin.

Zart continued out of the homestead, just in time to avoid Rosa slapping the three of them instead of the mere two that stood before her.

Rosa rolled her eyes and made her way toward the kitchen, all the while grumbling, "Stupid boys and their bets."

ك

It had bothered Rosa the whole day as she scrubbed pans, sizzled bacon and flipped eggs. She couldn't believe how she had put Newt in that awkward position; they weren't even that close! She could understand if it was Minho, she spoke with him on a daily basis, but Newt? Newt was the boy that she would send an occasional teasing comment his way, they weren't friends, barely acquaintances.

"Stop thinking about it." Frypan groaned, as if he could hear Rosa's thoughts and it was giving him a headache. He was leaning against the counter that had the food-window in it.

"I can't." Rosa let out a sigh, "It was so stupid, I don't know why I did it."

"That's it, get out of my kitchen."

"What?"

"You're depressing it up in here, go talk to him."

"No, don't be -"

"I'm your boss and you listen to me. Now out!"

Rosa grumbled something cursing Frypan to hell as she stalked out of the kitchen, throwing her sponge through the window at his back before she dashed out of the homestead. She wouldn't tell Frypan but she was happy that she could speak to Newt – it really was eating her alive.

She spotted him next to the crops, hoe in hand as he turned over the fresh soil.

"Newt!" She called, attracting the attention of many boys including said boy.

Newt raised his eyebrow at her and she waved him over. He said something to Zart and passed off his hoe before making his way over to her, aware of how many people were staring at them. "Hey, what's up?" He asked as soon as he was close enough to her.

"I wanted to apologise for earlier." She admitted, running a hand through her hair. "I was totally out of line and I am really sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Newt waved it off with a smile, "That's what friends do, right? We're friends, aren't we?"

Rosa remembered her thoughts from earlier, each one reminding her that they didn't know each other. She shook them out of her head and offered a smile in return. "Yeah. Yeah, we're friends."

"Good."

"Great."

"Fantastic."

"Brilliant."

"Yep."

"Okay."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Reviewers:<span>  
><strong>

**AwesomeGirl -** _Oops! That actually wasn't supposed to happen, haha! I didn't look over my work as I write them on documents and have to manually copy and paste them over. I usually do look over them, but I've been so busy today I just uploaded it. Just in case that wasn't what you were asking, bold is for authors notes, italics are for flashbacks and change of tones, haha! I'm going to go and change that now, I'm sure someone else will ask about it too if I don't, oh dear!_

**InvisibleSoul4** _- Thank you for your review! :)_

**softball007** _- I'm not sure how to tell you without ruining things... uhm, let's just say that they make a few impulsive decisions. And by they, I mean Rosa. Cause everything is always her fault, lol._

**StarRunner1** _- I think it is Beth, yeah. Well, my Bethany has nothing to do with her, it was just an accident, oops! I should have done more research on the names before adding confusion. Oh well, you'll find out about Bethany eventually, not for a long while, but eventually. Yeah, I had no idea what it was called, I don't even know how I know it, haha! Some horror movie most likely, it might have been the Hunger Games: Catching Fire book. I remember Katniss trying to go Rambo with it. Filler chapters are quite boring but the drama will come, don't worry._

**Stargazer-Dreamcatcher01** _- A flashback chapter is on the way! It shows Samantha and Rachel in a bit more detail and more is revealed about J, but really not a lot. Newt and Rosa are highly confusing, even to myself, they will have a lot of bumps on their journey and I don't even know how I'm ending it yet. Newt is super hard to write because we don't really know how he would be in a relationship - ugh! Nick is a very important person to Rosa and their friendship will develop before... you know. I had previously planned for Rosa and Nick to get together but I decided it was too cliche. Clint isn't a big character in the story, Rosa will run into him a few times but it's not like she'll bunk in his room and gossip if you get me. I do like Clint, but Frypan is highlighted more than him. Thank you, I look forward to reading your next review!_


	9. Chapter 9

**a/n: You've already had this chapter, but here it is again. Sorry about lack of updating, I've just been so busy and life isn't going so good lately, it's not exactly good for motivation. So enjoy this chapter, those who haven't read it yet.**

**Disclaimer: James Dashner owns The Maze Runner, he also got cast in his own movie, but oh well. **

_.09._

_A girl was running down the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks as she desperately attempted to keep as quiet as she could. Her silent sobs shook her body and tears fell to the floor with her sudden movements._

_"Darling, come back!"_

_"You know I don't like Hide and Seek!"_

_The girl couldn't do it. She looked at the door ahead of her, not realising she had planted her feet several metres away from it. A sign ran from her lips as the breath flew out quickly. A sign of surrender._

_She wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned back the way she came, back to the violent hands and harsh words of those she didn't love._

ك

_- Three greenies later -_

Rosa's laughter could be heard throughout the whole Glade. It was a sound that each and every one of the Gladers had to get used to after Rosa and Newt became so close. After having to adapt sleeping during the walls opening, and sometimes closing, Rosa's cheerful squeals of laughter were nothing. If anything, it was nice to hear someone having fun since they were all trapped in a world where the days repeat themselves - almost literally.

"Newt!"

"What?"

"Stop it!"

"I'm not doing anything, sweetheart."

"Liar!" Rosa lunged at the blonde, tackling him backwards onto her bed. To a greenie, this would be a totally inconvenient moment to walk in, but to anyone else, it would be a moment to yell at the both of them and stalk off.

Over the past few months, the two had gotten much closer after having to spend hours each day with each other. Rosa had become a Cook alongside Frypan and Newt was always the one who brought in the fresh patch of crops. After a while he started helping Rosa wash them - all the while mocking her for being such a typical woman for washing dishes and cleaning. Frypan would have to tell them off after Rosa would start whipping him with her tea towel.

Rosa was straddling Newt, her eyebrows furrowed with her hair raining down over her shoulders, creating a veil that covered Next's face to anyone that came in.

"Hmm." Newt poked a strand of her hair, "It's like sleeping in a tent with a bear."

"Are you saying I'm as hairy as a bear?"

"Of course not!" Newt's smirk suggested a comment that would possibly land him out the window. "That's an insult to bears."

Rosa let out a growl and started beating her fists against his chest, "Stop - being - such - a - slinthead!"

"Oh, no, ouch, stop it." Newt said, emotionless, with a grin spread widely across his face.

"Slim it!"

"Glader slang does not suit you." Newt mused, growing tired with her weak punches. In a sudden jolt, he had them flipped over so he was leaning over her with his signature smirk pulled across his face.

"Newt!"

"Rosa!"

"I hate you."

"No, you really don't." Newt grinned, holding her wrists down to stop her from attacking him once again. "You're a violent little girl aren't you?"

"I'm not a little girl!"

"Oh, sweetheart." Newt flashed his eyes up and down the girl to make her nervous, "Trust me, I've noticed."

Rosa flushed red, unable to cover her face with her hands she started shaking her head. After a few seconds, she had created a blanket of hair across her face, obscuring Newt's view of her.

"Wow." Newt laughed, he had been sitting there with silent laughs shaking through his body. "Much better."

"Newt!"

"What?"

"Stop it!"

"I'm not doing anything sweetheart."

"Liar."

"Bitch."

Rosa let out a dramatic gasp, "You did not just swear at me!" She tried hard to keep a smile from breaking across her face, "Not even through Glader talk either, wow. I am so insulted."

"Whatever." Newt released her wrists, jumping off of the bed with ease. "I'm going to bed, see you in the morning, love."

Rosa scowled as Newt expertly dodged around her face and planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek. She stuck her middle finger up at him as he darted out of the room, roaring with laughter. Rosa wiped her cheek clean, the scowl still evident on her face.

That didn't stop her from falling asleep with a smile.

ك

In the morning, with the sun shining downwards against the towel hung on her window, Rosa was curled up in her bed, the smile long gone. She was disgruntled, a frown on her face as she jerked in the bed.

_"Come back to me, darling."_

Rosa tossed and turned, her bed creaking with every sudden movement that she made.

_"I love you."_

Her mouth opened, a long stringed scream erupting from her vocal chords, shaking the Glade louder than the walls ever had. The door was flung open instantly and Newt was by her side in an instant, holding her shoulders down to stop her thrashing. It hadn't gotten easier on him.

"Rose, hey!" He spoke loudly but clearly. "Rose, wake up sweetheart. I need you to wake up!"

Rosa let out a small whimper before her eyes opened slowly, panic overtaking her instantly. She pushed herself up and away from Newt, her back hitting the wall without realising what she was doing. A sigh fell from her mouth, along with a tear that she quickly wiped away.

"You okay?" Newt asked, still crouched down by her, his arms resting on the bed.

Rosa nodded and swallowed thickly, "I hate this."

"You scared the bloody hell out of me." Newt ran a hand through his hair and Rosa mentally slapped herself for thinking it was attractive. "I don't know why you don't just stay in my room with me."

"People would think stuff." Rosa murmured, her cheeks burning red.

"People already think stuff!" Newt spluttered, a frown evident on his face. "I'm in here every night and every morning, while you scream your head off."

Rosa felt as if she had been plunged into red-hot lava, her face matching the colour of a tomato. Newt let out a soft laugh and shook his head.

"I know." He stood from the bed and made his way over to the bed. Rummaging through the chest, he pulled out some clothes and threw them in her general direction.

Newt left her to change, closing the door behind him just in time to hear Rosa let out a quiet growl of frustration. He trudged down the stairs for breakfast with a smirk on his face.

Rosa's hands had almost ripped through the box of tampons with her embarrassment and anger. Newt seemed to know her better than she knew herself. She was always due the day before a greenie would show up and Newt would wiggle his eyebrows at her when they pulled the boy up.

Rosa had made it downstairs in time to help Frypan with the second helping of breakfast - he said he would grill her if she turned up before seven. The maze walls opening were a brilliant alarm clock, opening at seven and closing at six - it signalled the start and end of work. Nick had been a smart man.

"Hey Frypan." Rosa mumbled, refraining from slamming the kitchen door behind her when she entered. "I'll get the bacon." She crossed over to the sink where the slices sat, ready to be prepped and cleaned.

"Woah, why so testy today?" Frypan asked with a grin, almost knowingly.

Rosa bit her lip to channel her anger. "I am going to murder him and wear his eyeballs as a necklace."

"Nice to know."

When Newt showed up around lunchtime, Rosa slapped him across the face with a slab of bacon she was saving. Frypan had begrudgingly agreed due to the fact that he didn't want her wearing _his _eyeballs as a necklace.

"That's a waste of perfectly good meat!" Newt gaped, mockingly, pointing at the girl in accusation.

"Glad you think so." Rosa smirked, throwing the meat onto a frying pan. "I was saving it for you."

"My face just made it better."

"Your sweaty face."

"Mmm, salty."

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><p><strong>I am spelling 'realising' correct for those who think otherwise. It's just the British English spelling. Just saying in case people want to stab me...<strong>

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><p><span><strong>Reviewers:<br>**

**RileyIsMyName** _- Yeah, I wanted to show how their relationship will change after the time jump, which is this chapter, funnily enough! :D My updates are pretty scattered, I might update soon, but I've noticed that the quicker I update, the less reviews I get - and reviews are my motivation if I'm honest. I try to update once a week, but it doesn't always stay that way because of school and homework. I also have other stories that I have in the works, including; Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Reign, The Vampire Diaries - most of these will never be uploaded, but I enjoy writing them anyways. On top of that, I have my own original story that I am writing - this takes up the majority of my time. Thank you! I had the flu and then I got better, but I got a cold a few days afterward, so I'm still unwell :(_

**softball007** _- Yeah, I don't know if we'll have more of the one-word conversations. We might, I'm not quite sure. There will be a lot more awkwardness, but I think that'll be them ignoring each other rather than trying to speak. I'm writing a chapter that is killing me and the fluff comes in on that one, so fingers crossed?_

**Stargazer-Dreamcatcher01 -** _Thank you, I wanted to show their awkwardness before diving into the better part of their relationship. I had originally gone down that route of Nick and Rosa, but then I decided that she has so many damn love interests in the story, I'm going to keep him as a friend - there's a hint for you *winkwink*. I really do love Frypan, I can't wait to show him off more!_


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